Baker - Boulder-Park Cleaver conditions?

[techboy]

Anyone know what the conditions are like on the Boulder-Park cleaver? How is the Boulder Glacier headwall? Is the approach really swampy already? Trying to decide between this and Easton..

[chelle]

Sorry I can't speak to this year, but I climbed it in late June 2 years ago and there was nearly constant rockfall from the summit rocks once the sun hit and we were punching through snow bridges like crazy. Nice climb but not sure I'd do it this late. You may have to traverse far to the left to avoid the big crevasse/shrund that forms every year. We had to do this as the headwall looked sketchy. If you go this way get and early start. You'll probably have that whole side of the peak to yourself which is one good reason for checking out that route.

 

We only saw other people when we got up to the football field below the summit and the hordes from the Easton were coming up behind us.

[Dru]

it must be baked down pretty good with the 35C earlier in the week and the recent chill down. i'd say go for it. probably rock hard neve overnight and a bit sloppy in the sun

[mattp]

I've done it this late in the year and it was "tricky," but we did just fine and my buddy was not an experienced ice and snow climber. We went for the Park Headwall, and the glacier was busted up fairly severely so there was quite a bit of route-finding involved and at one place we had to exit the glacier and climb some bad rock before getting back on the glacier again. The 'schrund was tricky, with a rotten bridge leading to an overhanging upper wall, and the headwall was so soft that we had to do the dog-paddle to get up it. We descended a line much closer to the Boulder Park cleaver, and it actually had some ice on it.